Mar
17
Class 15 – Living Wage II – Mohd Sakib
March 17, 2015 | Leave a Comment
The minimum wage has been a fiercely debated issue, having numerous fallacies associated with it primarily due to political agendas that have wrongly skewed facts and misinformed the public. I really enjoyed reading the Forbes article “The Five Biggest Myths About Income Inequality” as it really dissected certain often-quoted statistics and provided a more accurate picture of income and wages. One of the most common myths that I have personally heard about is that low-income individuals and those who live under the poverty level are there not because of their own actions, but because of the surrounding environment. I have always firmly believed in creating your own path of opportunities and working hard to not only provide for yourself but for your current family and future generations. Therefore, I have always questioned this myth and fortunately, the Forbes article does answer my questions. The most telling statistic is the fact that “81.4% of families in the top income quintile had two or more people working”, while “only 12.6% of families in the bottom quintile had two or more people working”! I strongly agree with the article’s argument that lifestyle choices strongly influence the outcome of your family’s wellbeing and financial stability.
The fact that low-income individuals are not working at all supports the fact that more people at the bottom of the income ladder have been stuck there due to their actions (or inactions), rather than external factors. This leads to the second myth that I definitely am not surprised about; the fact that government transfer programs are actually not an effective remedy. I have always believed that there is need of welfare initiatives, but not so much so to the extent that low-income families become dependent on the government’s aid. This creates a domino effect, where the families no longer work as they are living off of food stamps, among other benefits, and do not add to the overall economy. Another perspective on this issue that I’ve learned from this article is that the loss of benefits actually creates a sort of marginal tax on labor, which further hurts the economy and hinders any development in the labor force. This argument goes hand in hand with my previous statement that people must create their own opportunities and at the very least, work hard for them rather being dependent on a third-party to spoon feed them, and live at the margins of society.
Moreover, the guardian article by Jana Kasperkevic about the inequality of the service industry shocked me and opened my eyes to the great disservice given to food industry workers, and to women who are employed in this field. First and foremost, I never knew that food workers had a separate, tipped-minimum wage, especially such a low one of $2.13! I have always known that food workers depend on tips from their clients, but I assumed that their minimum wage was the state’s enforced one. Earning a paltry $3-$5 an hour is truly nothing because I could imagine that the taxes would eat away at any potential earnings a food worker might make. I also found two major aspects that this article pointed out to be extremely disturbing. The first aspect is the fact that these employees have extremely unstable income as well as job insecurity. I cannot even fathom what it might be like to “interview for you job every time a new customer sits down”. Not knowing what I will bring home to support my family at the end of every day, week, month, year, etc. would just honestly be unbearable to me.
Furthermore, and I think the most disturbing aspect of this job, is the fact that women have to be the major demographic who have to suffer because of this wage system. I cannot imagine the stress that a mother has to go through juggling a job from which she doesn’t know how much she might earn or even keep, with the responsibilities of taking care of their kids. The constantly changing schedule and double or triple shifts is almost torment added on these constant problems. I also felt disheartened and anger as well when reading about the story of Nakima Jones being fired because of having to leave early in order to pick up her son. I believe that two major rudimentary issues need to be addressed and fixed in order for these kind of stories to no longer happen. Tipping should be banned as customers should not be depended on to directly pay a business’ employees. Minimum wage should be at least on the same level and pace as the state’s minimum, and there should be more initiatives to help food workers with their scheduling to constitute a better work life balance. It is extremely disturbing to read that most women would apply to become a server rather than a manager or chef.
The Crain’s article on ‘Living wage’ inflation summarizes the key issue perfectly when Kathryn Wylde says “The unfortunate reality is that there are no quick fixes, and some of the proposals will simply make the problem worse, benefiting a few at the expense of many others.” I think this is one of the best statements and most encompassing ones put forth by this article because I strongly agree that patchwork and piecemeal legislations will get us no closer to a permanent solution. There are far too many moving parts, and different demographics within the low-income class that these temporary fixes are not directed towards. I feel as if these partial laws are only flung into the public because they benefit political agendas rather than actually benefiting those who need it the most; the poor, low-income families that are not able to survive within high-cost surroundings such as New York.
